Crypto Lessons

The chart above says it all. One year ago as of the time of writing, the price of bitcoin traded between $930 and $978 – movements that perhaps set the stage for the cryptocurrency’s value to cross the $1,000 on New Year’s Day. Indeed, that headline-making development would be the first of many to… Read more

Parity Technologies has published an update on its efforts to reclaim funds lost in a high-profile coding error that occurred on ethereum last month. In a blog post published today, the U.K.-based company published the results of its research into the issue, suggesting as many as four such protocol changes are currently under review as possible fixes, all of… Read more

It can be said the sharing economy brought the internet into the real world, helping it move real items rather than just information. On today’s web, though, if you want to rent out your camera or desk, you need a specific site for each one (think Airbnb, 99 Designs or DogVacay), and each site takes… Read more

Bitcoin gold is defying gravity today, but analysis suggests the upturn in prices may be ephemeral. The cryptocurrency, which was created via a hard fork of bitcoin in mid-November, topped out above $500 levels soon after launch, but since then has gradually been losing weight as the most unloved of the bitcoin clones. However, the world’s seventh largest cryptocurrency… Read more

U.S. and Canadian authorities appear determined to make an example of a recent initial coin offering. On Friday, a Canadian court ordered a two-month jail sentence against PlexCoin creator Dominic Lacroix and $100,000 in fines against his company for contempt of court, according to Radio Canada. The day before, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)… Read more

Just in time for the implementation of stringent new regulatory requirements, some of the largest banks in the world have revealed a pilot designed to simplify compliance using ethereum. Described internally as the Massive Autonomous Distributed Reconciliation platform, or Madrec for short, the project led by Swiss banking giant UBS, with help from Barclays, Credit Suisse,… Read more

One of the largest online gold dealers has announced that it will begin accepting bitcoin. APMEX said on Dec. 8 that it would begin to accept the cryptocurrency through an integration with payment processor BitPay. It’s also offering a small discount on purchases made with bitcoin in order to drum up interest in the new feature. The… Read more

Lawmakers in Gibraltar approved a piece of legislation last week that advances the government’s broader plans for blockchain. On Dec. 6, legislators cleared a bill that amends the British overseas territory’s Financial Services (Investment and Fiduciary Services) Act in order to “extend measures for the protection of investors to the customers of licensees carrying on controlled activities which… Read more

The head of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s investment management office said the agency is weighing questions related to newly-registered funds that plan to hold cryptocurrencies. Speaking at the ICI Securities Law Developments Conference in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, Division of Investment Management director Dalia Blass offered some insight into how the agency – tasked… Read more

The French government has given the official nod for trading unlisted securities using blockchain technology, Reuters reports. According to the article, the government has adopted new rules that will enable banks and fintech firms to establish blockchain platforms for unlisted securities trading. The change will allow the trading of the assets without relying on middlemen and theoretically… Read more